This was the kind of week where why wouldn’t Chris Johnson have his best game of the season against the Houston Texans. And congratulations to the 65 percent of you who still started Johnson this week, kudos to you.

But is Johnson back to his elite status? Well, this was a start. If Johnson can get loose against the Vikings (which is a tough matchup), then we can feel a little more comfortable about him.

————————————————————————————————————————————– Player of the week
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Congratulations to New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees who had a monster day against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. Despite many warnings of being blocked on Twitter for even posing the question, some of you were still wondering if Brees should have been started.

Yes, he should.

This was a good weekend to illustrate why your studs are your studs, and why your mid-carders belong on the mid-card. Christian Ponder and Josh Freeman were two guys who were talked up greatly, but again, you were better off playing your studs in most instances.

————————————————————————————————————————————– Is he still a stud?
————————————————————————————————————————————–
Great question. Is Philip Rivers still considered a fantasy star? Rivers dropped in a lot of fantasy drafts this offseason and many people have already moved on to other options. Rivers finished 18th after Sunday’s games, one spot below Freeman.

And this was supposed to be a good game for Rivers.

The Chargers do play the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night, so if Rivers is ever going to have a successful week, this is it. If not, it’s time to view Rivers as a QB2 going forward.

————————————————————————————————————————————– It’s a quarterback league
————————————————————————————————————————————–Tom Brady was another guy who, you should be ashamed about if you even contemplated anybody else as the starter over him. Well, not really. I understand the desire to play a guy like Ponder, Freeman or Red Dalton when your main guy is struggling.

I wanted to cut Cam Newton after Week 1, so trust me, I get it.

But again, don’t over-think these things. Newton the prime example here. As I put in Like/dislike this week, I wasn’t thrilled with playing Newton because he had been a bit of a disappointment, but sometimes when you stick with your studs, it certainly pays off.

————————————————————————————————————————————– This week in #shanahanigans
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————————————————————————————————————————————– Buffalo Bills timeshare
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The biggest question in Buffalo (outside of the BBQ or the spicy garlic wings) is who is going to be the best running back option going forward in Buffalo?

Fred Jackson had the edge on Sunday with 16 touches, compared to just ten for C.J. Spiller. Neither will be a real favorable fantasy option going forward this week against the San Francisco 49ers. But the best long-term answer will be Spiller.

Spiller was expected to miss significant time with his shoulder injury, but amazingly, he was back this week against the Patriots. Spiller has established himself as the more explosive players and the best bet going forward. Seriously, he’s third among fantasy running backs in points.

But why do you have to choose? If you have the chance to hang on to both guys, do it.

The best guy to have from the Buffalo Bills might be Scott Chandler. You can’t slow that guy down.

Yes, that was Brandon Bolden out there doing work against the Bills on Sunday. The good news, Bolden didn’t eat into Stevan Ridley’s production, as both running backs put up huge numbers. (Though, I guess you could be super greedy and believe Ridley should have received 40 points on Sunday, and I’ll grant you that. But come on.)

The best play this week against the Broncos will be Ridley. We need to see a least one more week out of Bolden before we go all-in on him.

And if you’re in one of those leagues where waiver-priority only changes when you make a pick, I would pass on Bolden. I’m currently holding the No. 1 spot in my “league of record.” I passed on Alfred Morris before and I will pass on Bolden, too, because you can’t trust Bill Belchick, who is one tannin-bed incident away from being Mike Shanahan.

————————————————————————————————————————————– Don’t ice the kicker
————————————————————————————————————————————–
While this has no real fantasy value, can we please erase the exercise of icing the kicker. It no longer works, and it nearly cost the Eagles a win over the Giants on Sunday night.

All right, let’s get back to fantasy football.

————————————————————————————————————————————– Andy Reid does us a solid
————————————————————————————————————————————–

We joke about how coaches should be more fantasy savvy when their team gets near the goal line. Well, we can fault Eagles coach Andy Reid who went to LeSean McCoy three times within the 5-yard line. McCoy didn’t get into the end zone, but we appreciate the effort.

————————————————————————————————————————————– Buddy, you just made the list
————————————————————————————————————————————–
Hey Graham Harrell … that touchdown was supposed to go to Cedric Benson and you ruined it. I’m not 100 percent sure if Benson would have bullied his way into the end zone. But at least give him a chance before you embarrass yourself.

Do you think the Packers will try to get Matt Flynn back?

————————————————————————————————————————————– Garbage time
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If you play in a league where fourth-quarter points are worth double, Dwayne Bowe is your fantasy MVP. I love the Chiefs. They get behind by huge numbers and Matt Cassel only looks for Bowe for the rest of the game.
You also should note Jamaal Charles is a top five fantasy running back at the moment, and he was nearly non-existent in the first two weeks. You can only imagine how much better Charles would have been if he had held on to the football in the first half.

————————————————————————————————————————————– WTS
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Nobody has a solid explanation as to why Danny Amendola’s touchdown didn’t count for the St. Louis DST, but Percy Harvin’s touchdown only counted for the Vikings DST. There is clearly something wrong with the way we count fantasy points, and this is something I promise to address in the offseason.

————————————————————————————————————————————–And finally … That helps no one
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